People keep asking me what I expect to happen after the federal homebuyers’ tax credit expires: Will the real estate market still be as active or will demand subside? Will prices decrease? Will the market slant a bit more in buyers’ favor?
While the future is always an unknown, what I can say is this: Yes, it’s true that the spring real estate market is off to an early start and our local market seems to be in hyper-speed mode the last few weeks — there’s no doubt the tax credit is part of that. On the other hand, of the six sets of buyers I’m currently working with, NOT ONE of them is looking for a home because of the tax credit. Nor have any of them expressed a sense of desperation to get under contract before the April 30 deadline. People have more sense than that, and when clients ask me how important the tax credit is, I explain it like this: it’s a nice bonus if you are planning to buy now anyway, but it’s certainly no reason to jump the gun or settle for a place you’re less-than-excited about.